For those xerographic printing/copying devices which employ chemical toner and an oil-less fusing subsystem, the chemical toner conventionally incorporates a non-covalently bonded release agent to provide release of the fused toner from the fuser roll. The non-covalently bonded release agent is typically a wax such as polyethylene or carnuba wax that has to be made into an aqueous dispersion which is a costly process. Further, wax domain size and location within the toner particles play a key role in several fusing properties such as minimum fusing temperature, gloss, document offset, and hot offset. Controlling the wax domain size and location may be problematic but are important parameters in how well toners perform. There is a need, addressed by embodiments of the present invention, for new chemical toners, particularly new emulsion aggregation toners, that minimize or eliminate the disadvantages described above regarding the use of a non-covalently bonded release agent in chemical toners.
The following documents provide background information:
Qian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,225.
Lau, U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,266.
Bartel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,851.
Vanbesien et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,764.